fairytales from københavn

Hygge is enjoying life's simple pleasures. It's about good vibes and good people. Warmth and soul. It's the low candlelight, the smell of cardamom and cinnamon, and friends and fam around the same table for the holidays. It roughly means "cosiness."
And the epitome of cosiness to me is a wonderful cafe.
Walking around Copenhagen was... ethereal. I couldn't stop looking around, and everything made me convulse with happiness. Even the Airbnb was the cosiest little apartment with an interesting sticker of a naked woman on one of the bedroom walls. And as if it didn't end there, we even seemed to have a magic bus ticket that granted us access to all the buses and metros in the land... that, or no one gave a fuck (it's the second option).

My favorite way to travel is just to walk around. I'll map out food establishments as general guidelines, but there are no real goals in mind. Especially when I know I'll be traveling with Ann, who shares my priorities for food. And this is why "I like it when my friends do it for me" (note: apparently I talk in my sleep). We wove in and out of quite a few cafes, sometimes getting coffee, always to take pictures. They were all just so... cute.

I only regret one cafe purchase (well two if you count the espresso that was just too sour): this shortbread cookie sandwich with raspberry jam. It was just too sweet, and honestly, I'm not a cookie person. Not quite sure why after all the deliberating, I landed on this. But it's pretty.

Detour. You can probably buy my love with chocolate. Also loved the marketing team that came up with a box of "Short Term Relationship" chocolates. Scandinavia almost made me a lover of chocolate covered salt licorice. We thought we were headed to Simply Chocolate's brick and mortar or factory, but we ended up in the floor of a mall devoted entirely to chocolates.

Back to bageris.

We squeezed in brunch, two bakeries, and a coffee shop before Ann and Sam had to leave me. 

Bageriet Brød is supposed to have amazing rye bread, but since I had another week of lugging around my duffel, I just went with the modest vanilla bun (vanillebullebillede). These are the kinds of things that catch my attention - twists, sugar/crumble on top, fluff... bread. 

I managed to save it until I got a latte to go with it. This is where I might brag about what a task that was for me... but we literally just finished brunch like 20 minutes earlier.

Mouths watered, smells were inhaled deeply, and eyes shimmered like the dusting of sugar on my vanilla bun at Lagkagehuset. I mean every bakery window we passed boasted a beautiful carb heaven, but something about this one. Maybe the size. Bigger is better. I went with that flakey cinnamon roll croissant hybrid with chocolate icing in the bottom right, and it was just as amazing as it sounds.

"Closer" by Chainsmokers was the theme song of wandering around in Copenhagen. As I was on my way to meet my first group of Couchsurfers (CS no longer means comp sci in my head).
I knew what couchsurfing was. I had heard about it some years ago. But the entire thing really sketched me out way back when. Trusting strangers is not my first instinct. Trusting people in general is just not my first instinct. But when you're a poor student, you have to make do and take chances.
In the end, I didn't really. Except when I was faced with one homeless night after Ann and Sam left. I guess I'll give couchsurfing a shot. As long as they have lots of raving reviews. And "normal" pictures. Long story short, it went fine. But what I really loved was the weekly Sunday BBQ they hold for CS's. As a side note, the hosts looked very confused and awkward when I thanked them for hosting... is that not a normal thing to do? Or am I really just that awkward? Anyways, sitting around in a park under a light drizzle with each person representing a different country. I always knew Europe fostered a big travel culture, but this was incredible. Little Amelia discovering true wanderlust a little late, it seems. The part I was most excited about was meeting another food-scientist-to-be just starting at University of Copenhagen. Because how often does that happen to me? Literally never. I might have been too enthused to hear those words "...it's like food science." Will, if for whatever reason you end up reading this, I'm sorry if I freaked you out.

"Novacane" was on repeat at Paludan (the amazing liberry cafe). And when I realized this, I laughed out loud to myself while editing with my Americano and a biscotti.

"Achieving hygge generally involves being with friends and family, and eating and drinking. Older Danes are horrified by youngers who hygger themselves alone on the sofa with a rented DVD and family-size bag of sweets."

Can't I live both lifestyles?



Afterward: Remember that magic bus ticket I mentioned? Not so magic. Got myself a fine on my way to the airport because life was just going too well. Why do they make these things so impossible to pay off?